I don't think a preamp is too far a stretch to respond to the question, so here goes. I've used this preamp, although mainly to warm up an acoustic guitar for direct in, and it can be noisy. For the price it's not a bad choice, and the phantom power is a plus as well. I still use mine, but a better one(quiet one) is on my short list of new gear. Give it a try at a store, if you can, but like I said, for the price you can't get hurt.
